Out of Time, Out of Place, Out of Mind
by voyfan7
Summary: Cortiana, a 21st century girl, ends up in the 24th century with our favorite Starfleet crew. In an alien prison she realizes how different she really is. Next chapter up soon!
1. Prologue

**Out of Time, Out of Place, Out of Mind**

By voyfan7 (aka Cortiana)

**Authors note:**

A few people have sent me some questions in reference to the story so I thought I should put the answers here to make it simple for all of you.

First: Cortiana's name is pronounced Cort-e-ana.

Second: This takes place during Voyager's 6th season. I assume that previous episodes have all happened – no alternative universes here. Also, I assume that Jeri Taylor's books are the true background of the characters (Mosaic and Pathways), it is easier that way.

Third: Paramount or who-ever now owns Star Trek owns the character names from Voyager and I intend to make no money from this story online (although that would be really cool in my dream world…).

Fourth: I thought that I should mention this in case anybody I know reads it… any references to ship names, races, or characters that may resemble actual names from the online game EVE online are COMPLETEY accidental (cough), and not intended (cough) to be used to cover a lack of imagination on the author's behalf. (If any of you play EVE online then see if you find the references… I used base words and changed them up, but good luck anyway…).

Fifth: If anybody actually wants to post this story elsewhere feel free to do so but make sure my name stays on it (voyfan7 or Cortiana will work) and let me know where it is, I think it would be cool to see it on other sites!

I think that is all, any problems or questions let me know I am happy to hear them! (Yes, good and bad). Thank you and enjoy the story!

**Prologue**

Cortiana was driving home from a bad day at work. She worked at a grocery store as a cashier. One particular customer had pissed her off and she was trying to calm down by driving very fast on her way home. For some reason the excessive speeds she was achieving acted to exhilarate her and draw her attention completely to her driving, thus away from her bad day. Usually this would calm her down any night. Tonight, however, was a different story. She came reluctantly to a stop at the traffic light and her whole world changed…


	2. Chapter 1 The Impossible Truth

Everything looked like steel. Steel walls, floor, bed, "food area", everything except the "door" to her new prison. When Cortiana had first arrived at her new location she had tried to simply walk out, and was instantly thrown back into the far wall by some invisible barrier. There was no way out and she was starting to panic. About an hour after she arrived she heard footsteps approaching her cell. The barrier flicked of and a man was thrown into her cell. Before the barrier was put back in place, she couldn't be sure, but Cortiana thought the guards here looked…alien. _Cant be_, she told herself, _you have been watching too much sci-fi lately_.

Her new cell-mate groaned from the floor. She instinctively knelt down to see if he was ok. She rolled him over and noticed 3 things. First, he was defiantly human. Second, he was very attractive. Third, he was beat-up pretty good. He looked like he had bruising down the side of his face and his arms were covered with scars and gashes. The guards had been particularly cruel and left his handcuffs on. While she was looking him over his eyes opened and she found herself staring into the most gorgeous set of blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Hello, I guess I am your new partner for this great vacation." He said sarcastically to her.

"What? Who are you? Where am I?" She couldn't help herself from asking quickly. He looked at her strangely for a moment then asked:

"If you don't mind me asking, you look positively human, how did you get all the way out here?"

"Um, I don't know what happened to you, but I think you are going crazy. Of course I am Human; I am from Chester County Pennsylvania. As for how I got all the way out here, I was hoping you could tell me." She replied. He stared at her again before responding.

"Oook…so you are from Earth then, but you don't remember anything? Did they mess with your memory?" he asked.

"Of course I am from Earth! Where the hell else would I be from!" despite herself she was getting agitated. She was afraid of this place, of what was going on. All she wanted was to go back home. Suddenly something seemed to click into place inside his mind. His eyes flashed and he took a gentler tone.

"OK, let's try this again. My name is Thomas Paris but you can call me Tom. I am also from Earth. This may seem like a stupid question but humor me please; what year was it when you arrived here?" He asked so honestly and serious that she couldn't help but answer him.

"Well, it was 2006 last time I checked." He took on a sudden sad and uncertain expression which scared her a little. He was going to tell her something shocking, she could sense it.

"What was your name again?" he asked her politely. She quickly realized that he introduced himself but she never did. Slightly embarrassed she answered: "Cortiana, but people call me Cort".

"Ok, Cort, I don't want to be the one to tell you this but you are not in the year 2006 anymore."

"WHAT! What are you talking about? I traveled through time! That's impossible!" she interrupted him abruptly.

"Listen, calm down. The year is 2377 and you are about 30,000 light years from Earth. I have no idea how you got here but I am as eager as you are to find out." Watching Cortiana carefully, Tom decided to press on. It seemed as though his answers were enough to get her to relax a little; she just wanted information. "I am a pilot on a starship and we got stuck out here 6 years ago. We have been trying to get home ever since." His voice was so emotional, she knew it was the truth but simply could not except it.

"300 years in the future, 30,000 light years away? Impossible." She believed it but could not except it. She stopped trying and moved into the corner to think about what had happened to her. At some point she began to break-down and cry.


	3. Chapter 2 Reality Sinks In

Not having much experience with younger people, Tom left Cortiana alone for awhile. After all, he had just torn her whole world apart. _What is she doing out here anyway? The Jinkeiti would have no use for her. Would they?_ His self musing was interrupted by a soft call. "Tom?" He looked over to meet Cortiana's teat-stained face and felt a wave of regret and sympathy knowing that he was the one who had caused those tears, indirectly but nevertheless. "Yeah" he replied as she turned to face him.

"It's true isn't it? It makes sense. Alien guards, invisible barriers, disappearing, etc." her voice was shaky but solid – she was beginning to except her situation. Tom wanted to help her anyway he could.

"I'm sorry but yes, it is all true." He said gently. She was silent for a moment letting it all soak in. Sensing a need to change the subject to something more up-beat Tom decided to clarify something that he was not sure he understood. "What did you mean about 'invisible barriers'?" he asked.

"Oh, it's that thing" Cortiana said while pointing to the door to their cell.

"We call that a force field" Tom said with slight amusement. "I wouldn't touch it, they usually crank up the power in these prisons and they can get pretty damned painful."

"Yeah, I found that out already." She showed Tom the slight burn on her hand and the bruise on her shoulder from slamming into the far wall.

"Are you ok? Those fields can leave nasty burns." Tom was so concerned that her anxiety started to fade a little.

"Yeah, I am ok. I just really want to know…well… why." She responded, unsure of how to ask what she wanted to know.

"Why what?" Tom asked as he moved closer to Cortiana. It seemed as if she had lost her anger and fear over time and instead decided to seek out information and explanations. That as a good thing he decided, she was being to except her situation instead of living in depression.

"I want to know why I am here. Not just literally, but why this time period, this place, what do they want with me? Why am I so special?" Tom carefully got up, not an easy feat with the handcuffs still on his wrists, and sat next to Cort on the bed. She met his gaze and he could instantly see her pain – she wanted to know the answer to the proverbial question 'why me'. He took a deep breath before addressing her.

"Cortiana, that is a question that I have often asked myself over the years and to this date I have never found an answer. I am equally curious as to why, and how for that matter, they took you from the 21st century to this time. The only thing I can tell you is that we are missing something. There has to be a reason, an explanation, there always is. In my experience, it is always better to not ask questions like 'why me' because it will usually lead to darker thoughts." She was quite a minute while she took it all in.

Bringing her eyes up from the floor she met his gaze again. She was slightly more settled than before and it showed. "I think you are right. But, if it is ok with you, I have a few questions that have been in my mind awhile that are less…'dark'.

He smiled at her and replied "fire away, I will do my best." This finally got a hint of a smile from Cort and Tom felt a swell of pride.

"I want to know more about you. Where did you come from? How did you get out here? What is it like in the 24th century?"

Tom couldn't help but to smile at her enthusiasm. "Well, let me start with myself. As I said, my name is Thomas Paris. I am a Lt. on a Federation starship. I am a pilot and occasional assistant to The Doctor. I was on an away mission with my colleagues when our ship was attacked. I remember a bright yellow beam of light hitting the ship and then I woke-up in a lovely little room these guys call the 'information' room, but anybody else would call it a torture or interrogation room. They asked me all about Voyager and got frustrated with me. They did this", he indicated the bruises on his face and arms, "and then threw me in here with you. As to how I got on this end of the galaxy, well, that one would take a few days to explain so let's just say it was an accident, a BIG accident. Now, what is it like in the 24th century? I am not sure how to answer that one because I was born here so I don't know anything different. We have more technology and space travel than in your time but that would be obvious."

Cortiana didn't give him a chance to rest before asking more questions. She couldn't help it, she was quite curious about this place despite herself. "So, you said you are a lieutenant, so you are in the 24th century army then? What is a Federation starship? What makes it different? Is Voyager your starship? Did it break when you were attacked? Where are all your colleagues?"

"You are feeling better I see." He said with a smile.

"Keeps my mind off everything else and I cant help but be curious." She said. "If I bother you please let me know, I won't take offence, and I tend to talk a lot when I'm nervous."

"Cort, you don't bother me. It's actually nice to talk to somebody who doesn't already know me." Tom said.

"Wait, everybody knows you? Are you famous? Why?" she couldn't help but to ask.

"How about I answer the first set of questions, then get back to those." She smiled and he smile back. Leaning back against the wall behind the bed he got a little more comfortable and started on the questions. "I am a lieutenant, but not in what you would call an army. I am in Starfleet."

Cortiana gave him a questioning look but refrained from interrupting him again.

Tom smiled at her and explained. "Let's just say that Starfleet is a group of space explorers for now. Alright, now as I was saying, Voyager is a Starship, it is not broken but my shuttle is, and my crewmates are hopefully working to get us all out of here. My commander, Chakotay, and my best friend, Harry Kim, were also on the shuttle. I hope they are ok."

His voiced trailed off as he was obviously thinking about his friends. Cortiana sensed that she should change the subject. "So, you are a pilot? I thought about being a pilot when I was younger but I wasn't allowed."

"Not allowed?" Tom asked. "Who told you that?"

"The government. You need perfect vision to be a pilot."

Tom looked at Cort with a shocked expression. "I feel sorry for you. I cant imagine not being able to peruse a career because of such a trivial detail."

Cort sighed, "Yeah. Tell me about it…"

"So, how about you?" Tom asked.

"Me? What do you mean?" She was surprised that he asked about her.

"Well, you have heard a lot about me and my life, but what about you? What do you want to be or wanted to be?" He seemed genuinely interested and she felt compelled to answer him.

"Oh, well its nothing next to piloting a starship in space. I am unfortunately a cashier at a grocery store. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up but now I am not so sure." She replied.

Tom looked confused for a minute than asked: "Grocery stores were those trading locations that humans bartered money for uncooked food supplies right?" Tom was more than slightly taken back when Cortiana suddenly broke out laughing. "I know I have a sense of humor but I wasn't even trying." He said.

"I know, I'm sorry, but for all the job descriptions and explanations I have had to write about my job, that had to be the funniest one ever!" she said in between laughs.

Tom laughed with Cortiana; he was starting to like this girl. "Ok, so you said you wanted to be a vet? Why did you change your mind?" he asked.

"Well, I love animals and science, so everybody always told me that I should be a vet. It sounded good so I never thought otherwise. After 4 years of college I realized it wasn't right. I love animals too much to be a vet; I would get too close to them. Plus lately…well… never mind, it doesn't matter anyway. I don't want to go to another 4 years of school at that rate."

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked. Cortiana figured he was trying to be friendly and pass the time; in reality what else did they have to do? But he was getting too close to a touchy subject with her and she wanted to try to avoid it.

"I'm not so sure, I have an idea but I don't know; people would just laugh at me anyway." She said cryptically.

"Now you have piqued my interest, you have to tell me." Tom tried to get her to talk but it wasn't working; he decided to push a little further. "Come on, who am I going to tell? I promise I wont laugh if that is what you are worried about. Look, if I laugh then you can hit me." He said

"I wouldn't want to hit you even if you did laugh at me!" she cried out

"Like it matters? I don't feel my left side anyway." He said with that sly smile on.

"No way. I am NOT going to get into a fight with you. You are defiantly at least two times as strong as I am." She said.

"Perhaps, but you are not restrained." He said lightly holding up his wrists. They were still incased in the metal handcuffs.

Cortiana examined them for a minute. There didn't appear to be any sort of seam in the metal, no locking method. No release mechanism either. It was as if they were made of one solid piece of metal; no lock to pick and no clasp to break. _How do they work?_ She had to admit to herself that she was suddenly curious.

When she finally tore her eyes away from then she saw Tom watching her with an amused grin on.

"They work with transporter technology. The duranium is solid." Seeing her lost expression he backed up a step. "Duranium is a 24th century metal. It is almost indestructible. We use it as the hull plating on our starships. These people will break the metal down into molecular pieces with a device we call a transporter. Then they re-assemble it around the individual's wrists directly. They can alter the size during transport." He finished

"How do you know all that?" she had to ask.

"I have seen my fare share of prisons in my lifetime; I know most of the tricks. These people are smart; using this method there is no way to escape on your own. There is no way to break the duranium. Well, at least not without killing me in the process. And I would prefer to stay alive." He added with a smile.

Cortiana suddenly felt sorry for him. She wanted to help but she didn't know what to do. She was about to answer Tom's earlier question when the guards returned. _Definitely aliens_, she thought to herself. Tom stood in front of her defensively but was shoved to the side by one of the aliens.

She was very afraid now, they wanted her. The realization was enough to cause a shudder to pass through her entire body. Tom attempted to duck around the guards but received the butt of a rifle slammed into his skull for the trouble.

The guards walked up to her and she simply followed them to the entrance of the cell. She knew what they wanted. Before leaving she glanced back at Paris and tried to remain calm.

"Just hang in ther-", Tom had tried to say before he was finally knocked unconscious.

Cortiana followed the guards down the hallway without any trouble. They outnumbered, outgunned and out sized her; she wanted to live after all. They entered a small white room with a table in the center. The lead guard turned toward her. She was to sit on the table. No communication needed.

She decided to comply and went over to the table. When she sat down the guards shoved her down onto it and secured her wrists and ankles to it. One more strap on her waist and they left. Suddenly it was pitch black and panic started to take hold on her. _"Just hang in there."_ She remembered Tom's strong words. It helped her, a little.

"Welcome Cortiana" a disembodied voice called out to her. "I trust by now you have realized that you are here for a reason. You are special, so to speak. I have gone to great lengths to bring you here and I want to see how valuable you really are. You see, only 1 in every 10 billion humans is born with a special talent. You, my dear, are that 1; however, in your case it is even better than that. You are the only human that will ever be born with this power, and yours is greater than any other."

"What are you talking about! You must be mistaken, I am no different than anybody else, and I certainly don't have any special powers!" she cried out in such a weak voice that it sounded pathetic even to her.

"That is because you have not been taught how to use your powers yet. I will help you with that, and then you will be able to help me…" The voice trailed off without further explanation.

A very bright light turned on and shone directly in her eyes as some long needle descended from the ceiling. With nowhere to go she couldn't avoid the needle as it approached her. She started breathing heavy as it got closer and closer. She started to cry when it made contact with her skin. _What are they doing to me!_ She screamed in her thoughts. When it pierced her flesh she screamed louder than she ever thought possible, then fell unconscious.

**Author's Note:** Wow, sorry about the really LONG chapter! There is definitely more to come, I just have to type it out (I already wrote it but need the time to type it). I am trying to get it finished but with college and work it's hard to find time to do this… oh well, I need to make time, right? Stay tuned – next chapter is where it starts getting really good!


End file.
